The Grey & Purple Songbook – Holiday Groove (X) (2025)
The Grey & Purple Songbook burst with energy in the single, ‘Holiday Groove (X)’, a Christmas song challenging consumerism. ‘Holiday Groove (X)’ is catchy with a snapping break beat, celebratory horn melodies, and groovy bass playing, ushering in a holiday vibe. As the verse starts, simplicity comes as instruments get stripped away, leaving rimshot and bass to carry the groove. Lyrics with imagery of a bustling mall filled with stressed-out shoppers slide in: “Shopping bags in hand/adrenaline runs high/colors cascade…” With the line, “…but pause a moment, take a breath/make space for calm to invade”, the group gives us their reason for the season.
“Feel the warmth/the cozy hum, let’s find our pace/ unwind” brings us into the pre-chorus, and an atmospheric pad and gentle guitar strum elevate the emotion here. Warm image after warm image stacks up like logs in a furnace. Everything ramps up, leading into the memorable hook, “So take a moment/hear the sound of joy/We’ll find our way.”
After this, the song begins to break down. The lyrics begin to lose the thread of the narrative. Images of consumerism switch to visuals of festive activities, “clicking coffee mugs, spinning on the ground”, yet it’s not clear where we are. Are we at home or people watching at the mall? The genial vocals maintain the brightness and joy, and by the second pre-chorus, somehow, we are back in the mall, and stores are filled with laughter and humans connecting. Observations of self-importance get replaced with a suggestion to “reflect magic.” Holiday tropes and solutions to shopping anxiety continue, but the logical succession in the lyrics and narrative makes no sense.
Suggestions like “Let the melody wrap around us”, “We’ll savor each note”, or “We’ll create…”, one after the other, begin to feel like instructions. This chokes the air out of the track. Worse, the overstimulation of the song makes its message of overstimulation among humans unable to stick. Undoubtedly danceable, the stuffiness renders the single’s message forgettable. Without space to digest the message, this single misses the chance to be among memorable modern Christmas songs.
Find out more about The Grey & Purple Songbook on their Bandcamp and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
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